For the uninitiated, Class of 2020 is a 76-page zine started by a band of creatives (including Singapore cultural documenter Gabe Tan) that showcases the works and processes of nearly 100 youths and creatives from across the world.

“We wanted to create a place for them to tell their stories, and recognise their journeys (not just the results of their labour),” says founder Jasmine Wong. “We’ve also created a section featuring 2020 graduates who may not have been able to graduate as they would have wished.”
Read More: What To Do This Week: The Fabric of Sympathy Exhibition, Archifest 2020 & More
She adds: “Over the last few months, we have put our minds together to create this zine as a show of digital and emotional solidarity during a time of isolation, letting them answer the question: ‘Who do you want to be during the hardest times?’.”

All proceeds from this lovely non-profit initiative will go to GlobalGiving’s Covid Relief Fund, and the Equal Justice Initiative in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Check out more of the disparate and diverse works over on their Instagram page, and get a copy here ASAP.
“My name is Tiffany Tong, I’m a student exploring graphic and am based in New York. I am trying to work on all kinds of mediums to achieve my design philosophy, which is to understand what in the visual world makes it undeniably arresting or engaging to the eye.
Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities to live in, with the dichotomy between the poverty line, the middle class, and the significantly rich. It begs the question: being born a woman in a world where patriarchy is fixed, is there a level of empowerment in this greed? A selfish but justified indulgence in luxury?
This photo story centers on the (notion of) affluence. It features a sample of young women representing the kinds of female beauty in Hong Kong. With the concentration on women, it was important to us that we emphasized their beauty and their sense of alluring, liturgic power that we believe can only be found in women. Class is implicated in the styling—the furs, mini purses, preppy clothing, and rich colors. The romanticisation and appreciation of women, the power in their indulgence—is it productive?”
Creative Direction by Tiffany Tong and Myu Inoue (@myu.inoue)
Photos by Myu Inoue
Styling by Tiffany Tong
Modeled by Flora Chen (@floorachen), Audrey Lee(@kidaudrey), Hunter-Lee White (@whitemaggotsss), and Bryony Morgan (@brynoy)
“I started photography when I got my first phone in middle school. Ever since then I’ve been obsessed with dressing up my friends and dragging them around the city (NYC) for shoots. Growing up there has definitely pushed my creativity and made me pursue my aspirations.
For this shoot with (drag queen) Virgo Couture, I picked out a lovely blue dress for her to wear and she created a makeup look to match. We had walked around my neighbourhood taking photos and then it started to rain so I asked her to smudge her makeup more for a photo. She’s a wonderful artist and is so inspiring.”
Photography by Lily Burgess (@phobiaoflily)
Model: Jessie Edelstein (Virgo Couture- drag name) (@jessie.edelstein.art)
“Gabe and I were doing a photo walk around Jalan Besar with the intention of shooting Shai for the zine. Nearing the end of the walk, we stumbled upon a cool ass staircase. The shot that was featured was meant to be more of a satire piece rather than an actual shot for the zine. Shai happened to be sitting on the stairs, having a phone call with a friend of his.
At this point in time, I happened to remember a COVID-19 meme post from reddit. The meme was inspired by the three mystical apes (see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil) which was poking fun at people who use their face mask as an eye mask. After his phone call, I told Shai to use his mask on his eyes and give a shocked expression like he’s seeing something incredible, which was ironic since he can’t see anything. The reason green was used as a light source was to do something opposite of what Jasmine told us to do. Basically, it was to avoid using the color green as there is a possibility of having a printing issue. The photo turned out amazing and Jasmine decided that we should put the picture on the zine. There wasn’t any printing issue.”
Photography by Syed Abdullah Albar
Direction by Gabe Tan
Modelled by: Muhammad Shaiful
“I’m a stylist from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I occasionally do photography as well. I’ve been in the fashion/creative industry for almost 3 years now and I really love what I do. I really hope to grow the creative culture here and keep doing what I do for life.
I shot this photo at a nature spot my friends and I usually go to and it was completely unplanned. We just started messing around with the wet clay on the rocks and spread it all over our bodies and when it started drying it created random patterns from the irregular drying, which was when I saw a good opportunity to capture some pictures on film.”
Photography by Skye Lai
Modelled by Nick
“As a photo enthusiast, I just try to be as different from what I see from Instagram. I honestly don’t stick to one genre – I’ve done corporate, fashion, wedding, food, and also interior shoots. And not to say I’m good at it because I am a work in progress, but I always try to present it in a different way, to me at least. As a person, I’m a chatterbox and I talk and meet people every day. Surprisingly it hasn’t got on my nerves yet but I feel like you can benefit so much from having a genuine conversation with someone. And I take that to photography in a sense whereby the photos or end product doesn’t matter as much to me as long as throughout the shoot, the vibes are amazing and we learn a thing or two from one another.
Both photos were taken at (music festival) WeTheFest in Jakarta last year. I enjoy meeting new people and I do that by asking them for a photo, especially if I find something interesting about them. So these are total strangers.
The first photo was of someone from Jakarta, the second are a group of festival-goers from KL. Both photos were captured on a point and shoot Yashica TAF.”
“As a photo enthusiast, I just try to be as different from what I see from Instagram. I honestly don’t stick to one genre – I’ve done corporate, fashion, wedding, food, and also interior shoots. And not to say I’m good at it because I am a work in progress, but I always try to present it in a different way, to me at least. As a person, I’m a chatterbox and I talk and meet people every day. Surprisingly it hasn’t got on my nerves yet but I feel like you can benefit so much from having a genuine conversation with someone. And I take that to photography in a sense whereby the photos or end product doesn’t matter as much to me as long as throughout the shoot, the vibes are amazing and we learn a thing or two from one another.
Both photos were taken at (music festival) WeTheFest in Jakarta last year. I enjoy meeting new people and I do that by asking them for a photo, especially if I find something interesting about them. So these are total strangers.
The first photo was of someone from Jakarta, the second are a group of festival-goers from KL. Both photos were captured on a point and shoot Yashica TAF.”
“My name is Luke Harris I am currently studying fashion design at Parsons School of Design in
New York. I grew up in California and Vietnam. I currently move back and forth between New
York and Hong Kong. I don’t like to restrict myself to just fashion design and I feel a lot of
fashion students tend to do that. During my first year of college I found myself extremely interested in doing more contemporary art including film, painting, sculpture. This image was taken in 2019 when I in the midst of putting together a fashion show. I organised this show is because schools in Hong Kong often have charity fashion shows that are very strict with dress code and the creative direction as a whole and doing my own fashion show allowed me and other young designers in Hong Kong to show whatever they wanted to an audience.”